I am posting the complete letter because I feel that the instruction he gives is important for all of us – especially me – to think about. 

Dear Missionaries

We will have the blessing of Elder and Sister Kopischke coming to our Mission Tour next week. We will have Zone Conference on Wednesday and Thursday (12^th and 13^th of February) from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. We will be at the Miami Lakes Chapel for the South four Zones on Wednesday and at the Boynton Beach Chapel for the North four Zones on Thursday. Come early and prepare yourselves to be taught by an amazing teacher.

The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more I see how much it centers on Jesus Christ and the Atonement. As you all know, The Atonement is one of the greatest doctrines we teach; it is part of our “Purpose”; it is part of our own conversion.  I see how when prophets become converted with Jesus Christ and the Atonement, they are not concerned about themselves so much anymore, but they are concerned for others. Great examples in the Book of Mormon are:

Lehi (2 Nephi 2:6-8)

Jacob (Jacob 4:12)

Enos (Enos 5-9)

Abinadi (Mosiah 11:20-21)

Alma (Mosiah 18:1-2)

Alma the Younger  & the four sons of Mosiah (Mosiah 27:28, 29, 32-33)

King Lamoni and his Father (Alma 19:31, 33, Alma 22:23)

And there are many others. I hope you read and ponder these scriptures and apply them to you and your desire to share the Gospel because of your increasing testimony of Jesus Christ and his Atonement.

Another example is when Nephi (young and desirous like you) became converted with the words of his Father:

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.”(1 Nephi 2:16)

As the truths are made known to him by the power of the “Holy Spirit”, his desire increases to be obedient and to share with his brothers these joyous truths of God:

“And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.

But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.”(1 Nephi 2:17-18)

Nephi’s desires to share the truths of Jesus Christ and the Atonement increased from sharing it with others, to praying (crying) “unto the Lord for them”. The Lord now blesses Nephi with additional blessings:

“And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.

And inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper, and shall be led to a land of promise; yea, even a land which I have prepared for you; yea, a land which is choice above all other lands.”(1 Nephi 2: 19-20)

The Lord now doesn’t just give Nephi the manifestation of The Spirit of these truths, the Lord “spake unto” Nephi. He received a greater level of communication with God because of his great faith and belief. He is not only sharing his testimony, he is praying (crying) “unto the Lord for them”. He then is blessed that he “shall prosper”.

Missionaries, this increase level of communication can be yours. The Lord will not just give you the good and peaceful feelings of the Holy Ghost, but he will “speak” to you. This will come as promptings, inspiration, light and understanding, and revelation. Joseph Smith said “Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is vain for anyone to minister without it”.(PMG p.89)

Again I say, hearken ye elders of my church, whom I have appointed: Ye are not sent forth to be taught, but to teach the children of men the things which I have put into your hands by the power of mySpirit;

And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken. (D&C 43:15-16)

People feel the Atonement through you as you teach and serve them:

“This week I saw a huge miracle! We were harvesting down a road and saw a woman working pretty hard outside her home…we decided to go up and talk to her anyways! She immediately stopped the work she was doing on her house and she had us say a prayer.  She felt the spirit so strong and she said that she’d be baptized. We found out she was moving in tomorrow and offered to help out! She gladly accepted! We told her we would love to help and share a message with all who are coming! She was happy to hear that too!!  When we came, there was a HUGE moving truck and only her and her husband showed up, they had no one else.  We helped, and then when we sat down to share the Restoration with them her husband just prefaced it by saying ‘my wife told me God sent two angels to help us today and I doubted but then, you showed up and I feel clarity right now; there’s no confusion, so I just wanted to say, I know God sent you.”

They are feeling the influence of the Atonement as you boldly bare testimony and bless their lives:

“… Right as we got ready to say the prayer with this [irreverent] family, a man walked over to the edge of the grass up along the fence. He just stood there waiting and waiting. After the prayer we looked up and he was still over there. He was a man with a Big, Big, Beard and kind of looked scary. WELL after we finished everything with this family my companion and I begin to walk off towards this guy with the beard that had been waiting. As we approached his direction, he walked over to us and said. ‘Hey guys I don’t want you coming over here to this house or neighborhood anymore. The people around here are crazy and the cops are always here’. We thanked him for warning us and looking out for us and then we had the prompting to share a prayer with him as well. So I looked over at my companion and then this man and said ‘Hey can we say a prayer with you that comes from God? You helped us now the least we can do for you is offer a prayer for you!’ He said sure!… We said the prayer and afterwards we asked “how do you feel?’ He said amazing, and we testified and told him that was the Spirit of God and we invited him to follow those promptings by being baptized just like Jesus Christ was. He  looked at us straight in the eyes and said, ‘I want to, but I can’t. I’m a SINNER!’ We told him that Jesus Christ died for him and will give him the strength to become sin free. He smiled and with joy and hope in his eyes he said… ‘ yes elders I’ll try and do my best to prepare to be baptized on Jan 21st!!’ WELL, I was a witness of this man, literally changing his entire life for the better in 3 weeks. Changing it to become more like Christ. He went from smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day, to as of Friday last week smoking ZERO!!! He did it! He stopped! God gave him the power and the strength. The scripture that kept him going the entire way was Alma 7:15 which talks about literally allowing Jesus Christ to remove the bands of sin from us. It was a blessing and a miracle to see him baptized and confirmed into the Church of Jesus Christ…!!!”

They feel the influence of the Atonement as you teach and bare testimony of Doctrine:

“We had gotten an investigator to church two Sundays ago.   What is interesting is that when we were trying to get her to come to church that week we had just come back from [a training] and she was the first Doctrine, Principle, Application lesson that we used.  We felt a little awkward in the format but we were amazed by the results.  She was clearly able to link coming to church with feeling the Spirit and receiving the forgiveness that she was looking for!  When she came to church she loved it and the baptism that followed.  Early in that week we tried to stop by her again when suddenly, out of nowhere, she dropped off the face of the earth.  Her parents didn’t know where she was, she wasn’t responding to our phone calls, we had no idea what to do.  That whole week we tried calling and calling again and again with no success and when we stopped by at her parent’s place she was never home.  We didn’t know what to do or what had happened …  On Thursday of this past week we finally decided we needed to drop her.  That morning we knelt for ‘mighty prayer’ and without mentioning her or the fact that we had dropped her we told the Elder praying, the people we needed prayers for.  As he knelt to pray he began the prayer and I was surprised when her name was mentioned.  ‘Please bless that she will call and that she will be baptized this Sunday.’  As he prayed I thought that it could happen.  A little later another MIA investigator called us and told us she had prayed about Joseph Smith and that she was ready to be baptized.  She’s amazing and is getting baptized this Sunday.  We thought that that was God’s way of answering his prayer but later on that morning as we went out harvesting our phone rang and my companion looked up surprised.  ‘It’s her!’  She was calling to say she had just gotten in from out of town and wanted to meet back up with us.  We visited her in the park and she told us that she had been visiting with her grandparents in the hospital.  They were suffering from smoke related diseases and as she watched them go through that she had pondered on what we had said about the Word of Wisdom and baptism as well.  ‘I haven’t touched a cigarette since we last talked and I am thinking of being baptized this Sunday.’  She was and is amazing!  God is a God of tender mercies!”

I know that praying for those you find and sharing the great message of Jesus Christ and the Atonement will give you additional “Power and Authority”, and you will have a greater level of communication with God to invite. Some time ago a District Leader shared with me the following:

“This week has been a great one as I was able to teach my district the importance of accessing the Atonement. We were all edified in the training and we were taught by the Spirit knowing the things that we need to do differently in our lives. After the Training on Tuesday, my companion and I were so excited to go out. We went out with the attitude that we would teach this to our investigators that we would be teaching that day and invite them all to be baptized. We went out that day with so much excitement and with the Spirit and we were able to set 8 baptismal dates that day. It was absolutely incredible what can happen when we really internalize our purpose because when we do that, we rely on the Spirit and when we follow the promptings immediately we are led to those that are prepared.”

Missionaries, keep inviting to access the Atonement through baptism as you help them feel the influence of the Atonement. Keep inviting to the special ordinances of Church, baptism and confirmation. I promise you the same blessings of Nephi, God will speak to you.

This is the first time I have kept this blog going between missions but I feel that it is important to at least post President’s very spiritual letters each week. While the most important part for me is the missionary experiences he shares, they also contain a teaching section to help the missionaries become more committed and effective. I found this week’s message something that all members  can learn from.

Dear Missionaries,

I hope everyone enjoyed Stake Conference as much as I did. I thing Elder Gay, Sister McConkie, Elder Kopischke, and of course Elder Nelson were talking to our Mission. I loved Elder Nelson’s discourse on doctrine. His description of the Gospel being like a beautiful diamond with 9 facets of doctrine was masterful. These facets of doctrine are what we regularly teach as Representatives of Christ:

Facet # 1- The Godhead

Facet # 2- The Plan of Salvation

Facet # 3- The Atonement

Facet # 4- Dispensation, Apostasy, Restoration

Facet # 5- Prophets and Revelation

Facet # 6- Priesthood and Priesthood Keys

Facet # 7- Ordinances and Covenants

Facet # 8- Marriage and Famil

Facet #- 9 Commandments

We bring people to the knowledge of these Doctrines every day, in fact they all relate to the Doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 32, 3 Nephi 11). As we better understand these Doctrines and teach them by the power of the Spirit, the Church will be enhanced, the people will be motivated and inspired to come to Christ and desire to accomplish “good works”. Elder Ballad explains:

“It seems clear to me, as this great work continues to roll forth, that the leaders of the Church at every level…  need to understand God’s plan for his children and then teach these principles to their people…The building up of the Church will surely be enhanced if all …  will teach the pure, simple, doctrinal truths that bring the children of God to a spiritual understanding. The Lord said: ‘And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom: Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you.’ (D&C 88:77-78)…In my judgment, the greatest motivator that we have in the Church is to have Church members understand the plan of salvation… Every leader should strive to motivate the people to good works by teaching the doctrines of the kingdom. The scriptures are our text, for “in them ye think ye have eternal life.” ( John 5:39)…  From them we glean the truths that will open to us a clear understanding of man’s eternal possibilities.” (M. Russell Ballard, General Conference, April 1986)

President Uchtdorf teaches us clearly of the “why, what, how” of missionary work. Since missionary work is a function of and directed by Priesthood keys, I inserted “missionary” with “Priesthood”:

“The what is important in our work, and we need to attend to it. But it is in the why of priesthood [missionary] service that we discover the fire, passion, and power of the priesthood [missionary work]…The what of priesthood [missionary] service teaches us what to do. The why inspires our souls…The what informs, but the why transforms…My dear brethren, divine blessings for priesthood [missionary] service are activated by our diligent efforts, our willingness to sacrifice, and our desire to do what is right. Let us be the ones to act and not be acted upon. Preaching is fine, but sermons that do not lead to action are like fires without heat or water that cannot quench thirst… It is in the application of doctrine that the purifying flame of the gospel grows and the power of the priesthood ignites our souls…Thomas Edison, the man who bathed the world in glowing electric light, said that “the value of an idea lies in the using of it.” In a similar way, gospel doctrine becomes more precious when it is put to use.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference April 2012)

Teaching doctrine amplifies the Spirit:

“… we decided that we needed this time tomorrow filled so we needed to Harvest now. We decided that we would be looking for a young family that was really looking to come to Church and turn their lives around, and at first we weren’t having any luck. Then we saw a man on his porch and we offered the blessing. As soon as we said, ‘we are representatives of Jesus Christ’ he started to back off and tried to tell us that he didn’t like Churches. We asked if we could leave a prayer before we leave, He said why not. We left the blessing and the spirit was so strong, you could eat it with a spoon. When we invited him to be baptized he said he had never done that before and thought it was something he wanted. We invited him to church he said he would need a ride and we told him no worries, and when we said that we would be by tomorrow to pick him up he said that he couldn’t make it tomorrow but he was definitely coming. We still felt good on our way back to the car and we took a minute at the car to get a drink of water (because we don’t drink water in the car) and all of the sudden we turn around and there he is. He says ‘after you left I felt like I should have said yes, I haven’t been to church in 10 years, I hated it, but I think it’s something that my family needs. He went to Church and later when we followed up on Monday, he said that that was the First time he remembers really feeling the spirit.”

Teaching Doctrine will help them to keep the commandments:

“His son was baptized in the YSA branch two weeks ago, and when he saw the baptism he told the elders that he wanted to be baptized as well. They passed him to us and we went to visit him. He committed to living the Word of Wisdom at the first visit as he had problems with drinking and smoking. But he was having a hard time keeping his commitment until we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ focusing on the doctrine of being clean before God (3 Nephi 27:19-20)… we were able to connect the dots using doctrine (no unclean thing can dwell with God), principle (be clean by keeping the commandments and being free from addictive substances), and application (live the word of wisdom). He recommitted to keeping the Word of Wisdom and told us a few days later that he had lost all desire to smoke or drink.”

Teaching doctrine will help increase their faith and desire to come to Church:

“Our investigator was SET on getting baptized on the 26th since we harvested him. He accepted everything we taught him and fed us multiple times after lessons. We went to teach him on Saturday and the first thing he told us was that he wouldn’t be able to come to church the next day because his boss told him he had to come into work early. We began to teach simple doctrine that God wanted him at church and that because God is omnipotent, He could make it happen if we prayed and if he acted. We then kneeled and our investigator offered one of the most faith-filled prayers I have ever heard. All four of us had faith that he would make it. However, he didn’t call us or answer our calls; he didn’t answer the door on Sunday morning when we went to round him up. We waited and waited for him at church and just before we gave up on him coming, he rides into the parking lot on his bike! He asked his boss to get the time off and his prayer was answered, he got to attend sacrament and he is so excited to be baptized on the 26th!”

Following the doctrine of faith and the Spirit will lead us to those that need rescue:

“We had set aside an hour and a half on Sunday night to harvest, and we had prayed and felt inspired to go to this complex… As we knock, we look for opportunities to oym, and have a few. Then we knock on a door, and a man opens it and says ‘did my mom send you guys here?’ We respond that she didn’t but that we were here as Representatives of Christ to bless his home. He quickly explains that he is a member and his mom has been trying to get him to go back to church! We go inside and all he asks for in the prayer is to help him get back to church! We had a powerful blessing and he is excited to come to FHE the next day and to church. We said a gratitude prayer and kept going. After 15 or so minutes, we get a call from him. He told us his mom had told him to tell us that she was on her knees at 5:30 pleading that her son would come back in contact with the Church. We knocked his door at 5:45. It was such a powerful experience. He came to [Church] last night and was enveloped by the branch. “

President Uchtdorf teaches us that doctrine, principle, and application (why,what,how) relates to obedience. Elder Nelson taught this as “Facet # 9” with obedience in keeping the commandments:

“While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet…Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and obligations before us. Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us… The “what” and “how” of obedience mark the way and keep us on the right path. The “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration.” (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference October 2011)

We will get closer to God as we teach doctrine and follow the doctrine of obedience:

“Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;” (D&C 93:1)

Being obedient in contacting everyone brings power to “Doctrine, Principle, and Application”:

“We met this awesome guy this week. While we were harvesting we saw him sitting outside his home. He had his head down, and his hands on his face. He looked really sad. We felt like we needed to talk to him. We told him who we were, and why we were there. He accepted the prayer, and after the prayer he felt the spirit so strong. You could see it in his eyes. He said he felt relieved and when we invited him to be baptized he said, ‘yes, why not!’  We have been teaching him and he is very receptive to the spirit. Last night as we taught him using ‘Doctrine, Principle, Application” we taught him through Christ he can be cleansed from sin he said, ‘wow that’s powerful!’ He is awesome and he is excited for his baptism!”

Being obedient to teach to the investigator’s needs and not with a recurring, cookie cutter, or memorized lesson:

“I was pumped to apply Doctrine-Principle-Application to our investigators. As soon as we got back we went to go teach one of them. She has been unsure and nervous about baptism for the last week because she’s been baptized in other churches before and she didn’t have a good experience. She told herself ‘I’m never going to get baptized in another church ever again.’ So we decided to teach her about the Plan of Salvation. We taught her about how God’s work and his glory is our eternal life and immortality; then we talked about how our work is to keep his commandments. We shared a scripture about baptism and asked her what she needed to do. She answered ‘I need to repent and get baptized!’ We said, ‘Exactly!  Will you repent and be baptized this Sunday?’ Without hesitation she said yes! It was so amazing to see how she was able to overcome all doubts as we put our trust in God’s perfect Doctrines!”

We can even teach our members to commit using “Doctrine, Principle, and Application”:

“We once again discovered the strength of bringing members with us. How incredible! A recent convert that just received her endowments on Saturday came out last night, and while we were focusing our invitation to continue preparing for baptism to our investigator, the member interrupted and said, ‘the spirit has changed here, with just 2 of you baptized. Imagine how powerful it would be if all 5 of you were. Baptism is the only door we can enter, there is no other way. Will you be baptized too? (focusing on the others).’ One looked at her in shock (we had invited him multiple other times) and said, ‘yeah, I’m going to be baptized this Sunday.’ It was incredible. Another then looked at us and said, ‘do I have to change what I wear?’ We responded, ‘You will have the gift of the Holy Ghost, and God will let you know what you should do.’ She looked at us for a minute, ‘You know, I was telling my mom after church today about long skirts, I used to make fun of them but now they look so elegant to me.’

Elder Maxwell teaches us concerning obedience and murmuring:

“Perhaps when we murmur we are unconsciously complaining over not being able to cut a special deal with the Lord. We want full blessings but without full obedience to the laws upon which those blessings are predicated. For instance, some murmurers seem to hope to reshape the Church to their liking by virtue of their murmuring. But why would one want to belong to a church that he could remake in his own image, when it is the Lord’s image that we should come to have in our countenances?… The doctrines are His, brothers and sisters, not ours. The power is His to delegate, not ours to manipulate!… nonmurmurers are permitted to see so much more… Elisha’s counsel, (2 Kgs. 6:14–17.) can help Church members today to silence our murmuring. Regardless of how things seem, or come to seem, in troubled times, “They that be with us are more than they that be with them.” My brothers and sisters, if our lips are closed to murmuring, then our eyes can be opened.” (Elder Neil A. Maxwell, General Conference, October 1989)

35 Baptisms| Wow – what a great week for the FFLM with 35 sons and daughters of God putting their feet on the straight and narrow way!

President Anderson shared these missionary experiences…

Elder Oaks taught also the importance of teaching doctrine and principles:

“Well-taught doctrines and principles have a more powerful influence on behavior than rules. When we teach gospel doctrine and principles, we can qualify for the witness and guidance of the Spirit to reinforce our teaching, and we enlist the faith of our students in seeking the guidance of that same Spirit in applying those teachings in their personal lives.” (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, General Conference, October 1999)

When we teach pure Doctrine and understood principles, they will recognize and overcome their obstacles and commit to follow Christ:

“The only thing that was holding her back was smoking. She knew she needed to quit and wanted to quit, but was having a hard time doing it. She committed to be done on New Years and was doing really good, just still questioning if she could really do it, or if she was prepared to now make the covenant with God. We invited her to the church on Saturday to see a baptism, but she couldn’t make it until it was over. We figured it would still be a chance for a really spiritual lesson. It was amazing as we sat down, prayed, and then just talked openly with her, how strong the spirit was. Afterwards a member bore testimony and then we basically just sat back and let her figure things out. It was like she was having a lesson with the spirit. She came to a point where after a long pause she said ‘it’s the building, that’s what’s stopping me from being baptized.’ She had been reading about the ‘Tree of Life’ and how the building was the pride of the world. She was able to recognize that it was her pride that was the only thing stopping her from being baptized. She then committed to be baptized on Sunday and was. It was such a cool experience. All we did was set things up for the spirit to work and a miracle happened.”

They will recognize the Doctrine is from God, we only need to be the instruments to teach it:

“…we went back Tuesday to the Pastor lady … with a printed out Joseph Smith history as requested, and we met with her and the two other Pastors she was staying with. She was nice and sort of open .. then taught a lesson. We then didn’t talk with her until Saturday when we felt prompted to invite her to Church. It was fast and testimony meeting and during a silence she decided to get up and bare her testimony that last Sunday she had been praying about what the Lord wanted her to do next and before she finished the prayer her son walked in and told her two young men in ties were standing at the door. She then identified us in the congregation and said, ‘these two young boys gave me a copy of Joseph Smith’s First Vision and I believe they were the answer to my prayer. I have read it, and I too testify with the rest of you that Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God.’ it was astounding.”

Teaching Doctrine and Principles, surrounded by the Spirit will pull them to want to act:

“So my companion and I were biking to the church on Wednesday night…. And as we were almost there, a guy whistled for us from across the street… and ran across the road to us. We talked to him and he said he wanted a card or something from us… and I asked him if we wanted to come to church on Sunday. He said, ‘I want to go now!!’ Alright!! Awesome! So we walked with him a few blocks to the church and we gave him a chapel tour… He said his first boss in Cuba was a Mormon, and he knows about the church. He said he doesn’t have a religion right now, but he really wants to come to church. After showing him the chapel, and explaining the sacrament, and after showing him the baptismal font, we invited him to be baptized and he accepted! He said, ‘Are you guys going to baptize me?’ and’ When can I be baptized?’ So we told him he needed to come to church twice so he could be baptized, and he was SO excited!! We gave him a Book of Mormon, and he made us write our names in it, and we also gave him a Bible and some Pamphlets about the Word of Wisdom (he picked that one out) And we gave him a restoration pamphlet and a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet too. He just wanted everything from the Mormon Church! He was inhaling everything we were telling him. And he said a prayer for us in the chapel and in his prayer he said ‘Jesus Christ, I know you are a Mormon. So bless this church.’ It was awesome!!”

Elder Scott teaches us that God will help us as we teach with faith and His “Power and Authority” by infusing faith as we prepare to bring these souls to Christ:

“You can learn to use faith more effectively by applying this principle taught by Moroni: ‘Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.’ Thus, every time you try your faith, that is, act in worthiness on an impression, you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. Those feelings will fortify your faith. As you repeat that pattern, your faith will become stronger. The Lord knows your needs. When you ask with honesty and real intent, He will prompt you to do that which will increase your ability to act in faith. With consistent practice, faith will become a vibrant, powerful, uplifting, inspiring force in your life. As you walk to the boundary of your understanding into the twilight of uncertainty, exercising faith, you will be led to find solutions you would not obtain otherwise. I testify that I know that is true. (Elder Richard G. Scott, General Conference, April 2003)

I have often thought about the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the scene where God is reaching out to touch Adam’s finger and give him life. When I see the scene I see the gap between the fingers and that Adam has reached as far as he can – he is giving it his all. Now that he has God will fill the gap. I know it is the same in the things I do – it I will give my all or as it says in D&C 4 – serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength – that God will fill the gap.

We have found that this is true with missionary work. When the missionaries are willing to give their all, be exactly obedient and have complete faith in Christ than they will see miracles as the stories from this week’s letter shows…Bill

President Anderson…

The Lord will bless us as we show forth “Power and Authority” and keep going even after the first miracle:

“A miracle we witnessed happened while harvesting last night. I kid you not President, We found 4 incredible families. Every single door we knocked, we ran into an incredible miracle. This first lady brought us in and told us she knew a member, we invited her to be baptized, and she accepted along with everything else. The next door we found a man who wasn’t too interested, we prayed and during the prayer a lady came out (but I didn’t stop saying the prayer) and she knelt down, and after the prayer was crying. It turns out that she had learned from the missionaries in Nicaragua. She believed José Smith to be a prophet and the Book of Mormon was true. We gave her another book, and the both of them accepted baptism. The next door we found a Latin party going on. We knocked (but were a little scared) but it turned out the spirit was right again. They accepted us, turned off everything, knelt down, and after the prayer the young mother had tears in her eyes. She and her grandparents all accepted baptism, and before we could invite them to do anything they wanted us to come back and to go to church next Sunday. After that we were walking and saw a man flying a remote control helicopter. We ran over and offered a blessing and he was super resistive. We started being more personable with him about his helicopter and soon he told us all about his family. His two daughters ran from the house and came and said the prayer with us. After they were all smiling and all accepted baptism after we shared the doctrine of eternal families.”

“Power and Authority” will reveal itself as we are obedient and faithful:

“One miracle we saw was while we were harvesting on Friday. We saw that our harvest numbers were lacking a little bit so we made some plans on how to improve that. One of those plans was to harvest for an hour a day no matter what!! Even if we had appointments, we knew that God would provide a way. Well as we were getting close to being done harvesting we had about 5 minutes left and knew we needed to finish strong. So we both picked a door that we really liked and decided to knock on it. Right away we knew it was going to be a miracle house.  A woman answered and she looked a little shocked. When she asked us what church we were from she was even more shocked when she found out we were Mormons. Turns out she is from Idaho, and that she was a Mormon herself. We must’ve had a shocked look on our faces as well because she started singing Book of Mormon Stories to us. She looked us in the eyes and said ‘you can’t fake that can you’, it made us all laugh. Then we were able to meet her 2 daughters who are not members!! Can we say MIRACLE!!”

We can inspire our members to exercise “Power and Authority” linked with our mantel as Representatives of Jesus Christ:

“We had an investigator who had been struggling with quitting smoking. We had prayed and fasted for her, but she didn’t believe she could do it until the end of this month. When we told her she could do it now, she became upset with us.  She had unexpectedly gone out of town the Sunday before Christmas and wasn’t expected to get back till after the New Year. We got a phone call from her on Christmas telling us she was on her way back. We met with her the next day and brought over a member who had also quit smoking. The spirit was so strong as the member told her ‘why wait? You can quit smoking now.’ Then she reached out her hand and asked for her lighter. Our investigator gave her the lighter and then said, ‘wait the Holy Spirit told me I need to do something.’  She reached in her purse and gave her the last cigarette, and she broke it in four!!! We were so proud of her. She told us. ‘It’s over, I know it is. Jesus took the cigarettes from me.’ As we left she threw her ash tray away. When her neighbors asked her for cigarettes she told them ‘I don’t have any, I quit smoking. I’m done. Jesus took it from me.’ This Sunday she was baptized and confirmed.  After she came up out of the water while she was still in the baptismal font she prayed and thanked our Heavenly Father. She has so much faith. She told us she had waited 34 years to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and now she had it.”

The Apostle Paul taught that “Power and Authority doesn’t only come in what we say or proclaim, but by the Spirit we invoke:

“For our gospel became not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.” (1 Thessalonians 1:5)

The Lord will continue to “honour” us with “Power and Authority” as we remain worthy to be entrusted with it:

“Eli the priest was relieved of his calling when he permitted wickedness in the house of the Lord. The Lord said, ‘For them that honour me I will honour.’ The great…  power and authority with which we have been entrusted must be exercised by those authorized to do so who have proven themselves worthy to do so. Only in this manner will our acts be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise and thus be honored by the Lord.” (President James E. Faust, General Conference, April 2001)

Happy New Year to All Who Read This…Often I just include the spiritual missionary experiences that the president shares in his letters. However this one includes his thoughts on our commitment as we start a new year. The message was important to me and I hope that those who read this will find it so for them…Enjoy!

“Happy New Year Missionaries,

This being a time of “renewing”, “resolutions”, and “recommitting”, I often think of the great resolutions that come from the great prophets in the scriptures. One of the greatest was Nephi when he resolved:

“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7)

Most sincere resolutions begin with the words “I will” because it has more power and conviction that we will actually achieve it.  That is one of the reasons we use the words “will you” as we help investigators make commitments. The answer “I will” is a strong answer of the commitment or “resolution” they make. The person that uses the term, “I will”, and rarely accomplishes the task, is one that doesn’t understand the importance of the pledge or oath that is made. In the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, the term “as the Lord liveth” is used many times to emphasize this promise or resolution. Nephi amplifies his resolution later in the same chapter when he says:

“But behold I said unto them that: As the Lord liveth, and as we live, we will not go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord hath commanded us.” (1 Nephi 3:15)

The term “as the Lord liveth” united the great Prophets and missionaries in a partnership with God in carrying out the resolution. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explains it well:

“Nephi made God his partner. If he failed to get the plates, it meant God had failed. And because God does not fail, it was incumbent upon Nephi to get the plates or lay down his life in the attempt” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, General Conference Apr. 1982)

When people are properly taught, they rarely will fall away if they make and live those commitments and resolutions. When the oath was made in proper teaching in The Book of Mormon, there was a three way partnership made with the investigators, the teachers, and God:

“And as sure as the Lord liveth [that is an oath], so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth [a second oath], as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away” (Alma 23:6).

We also learn in the scriptures that The Lord will make commitments or resolutions to bless us or punish us for our commitment or resolution (or lack of). A few examples in the scriptures are:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mathew 5:28)

 “Therefore, saith the Lord: I will not utterly destroy them, but I will cause that in the day of my wisdom they shall return again unto me, saith the Lord… And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall these things be, saith the Lord.” (Helaman 15:16-17)

“As often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit… Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love.” (D&C 6:14,20

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee… [Again in verse 13]… I will help thee… [Again in verse 14]… I will help thee.” (Isaiah 41:10, 13, 14)

God always comes through and resolves to bless us as we ourselves commit and make resolutions to Him. Brigham Young teaches us that as we do our utmost best in those resolutions, in our aligning with God’s will, He will step in and help us accomplish it:

“I have learned years ago that the Lord stands at the helm that guides Zion’s ship. … Unless we work exactly to the line that is marked out by him, our works will be in vain. This has been my experience from the beginning. In every branch and avenue of our lives we must learn to work to the line of truth. It is for us to know what ought to be done, and then do it. Though there should be no earthly prospect of accomplishing it, we can certainly try; and if we try with all our might, that act will prove at least a resolute and determined mind, adorned with patience and perseverance. And if, with all our resolute endeavors we are still unable to accomplish our purpose, the Lord will be very likely to stretch forth his hand and give the victory” (Discourses of Brigham Young, 441).

The Lord will bless us as we are resolute in opening our mouths to everyone:

“We went harvesting … the other day and found an incredible lady walking her dog down the street in the dark. After we said the prayer she looked up with tears in her eyes and told us that she knew that God sent us to her. She told us to follow her back to her house to offer a prayer for her daughter… then she took us to her cousin’s house and said, ‘You have to get a prayer from these church people!’ She was determined to let us pray with everyone she knew! If it was up to her, we would have prayed with everyone in the neighborhood! She is amazing and we are excited to help her progress towards baptism.”

The Lord will bless us to teach with power as we open our mouths to everyone:

“The other day, we were out walking and we saw this woman walking her dog with her 3 kids. We went over and started talking to them. They loved the prayer we offered and when we invited them to be baptized, the mom said how it’s something she knows she needs to do but never done. Then the kids asked us what baptism is. We explained how we make mistakes in our life but when we are baptized, it’s like taking a bath and all our mistakes are washed away. The kids then turned to their mom and said,’Oh mom!! Can we do that! Please!?’ The mom said, ‘Of course we will do that! We need to go to church first to get ready!’ They are all planning to get baptized on the 5th! As we followed the promptings of the spirit, we were able to find the elect!!!”

The Lord will “stretch forth His hand and give the victory” as we do all we can and open our mouths to everyone:

“Starting with Wednesday transfer day, we needed six more blessings to reach eight by Wednesday. My companion had a great complex picked out and as we got there we got the first four easily and 2 of them were amazing spiritual blessings. We had soo much faith after those four blessings and we knew we were going to get the next two easily! As we continued nobody was answering and when they did they refused the blessing! It was so strange… An hour had almost gone by without any more blessings. We were determined to keep going until we could get at least two more. We finally decided to pray. We were running out of time. After the prayer we were lead to a door which was an awesome lady, our fifth blessing and an amazing referral. Sadly by the time that blessing was over we had run out of time. We needed to get home. As were walking back to our car we were scanning the parking lot for someone to contact… nobody…. We decided to say another prayer asking the Lord what we should do. We wanted to reach eight by Wednesday so badly but we needed to be obedient and home on time as well. After the prayer we all looked up and my companion asked ‘well, have we done all we could do?’ … it was that very second that I saw movement in the corner of my eye. It was a person! A guy walking down a little hidden walkway on the edge of the parking lot. We all without any words headed straight to him… he was awesome! He knew God sent us to him that very moment! We had an amazingly spiritual blessing with him and he accepted everything! That night my faith grew sooo much. I was soo humbled and happy as we offered a prayer of gratitude.”

President Uchtdorf teaches us the importance of making resolutions and reaching our potential:

“[A] regret people express was that they failed to become the person they felt they could and should have been. When they looked back on their lives, they realized that they never lived up to their potential, that too many songs remained unsung…. I am speaking of becoming the person God, our Heavenly Father, intended us to be… Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence… Why, then, do we devote so much of our time and energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial? Do we refuse to see the folly in the pursuit of the trivial and transient? Would it not be wiser for us to ‘lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal’?  How do we do this? By following the example of the Savior, by incorporating His teachings in our daily lives, by truly loving God and our fellowman… We certainly cannot do this with a dragging-our-feet, staring-at-our-watch, complaining-as-we-go approach to discipleship… As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we are capable of so much more. For that, good intentions are not enough. We must do. Even more important, we must become what Heavenly Father wants us to be… We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness… The path toward fulfilling our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God is an eternal one. My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, we must begin to walk that eternal path today; we cannot take for granted one single day. I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live. (President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, General Conference October 2012)

I love reading and sharing these letters from President Anderson so here is his Christmas letter…

Merry Christmas Missionaries,

What a wonderful time to reflect on our “Purpose” as we bring souls to Christ. The perfect gift for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Years ago I was impressed with the story “The Mansion” by Henry Van Dyke. It’s the tale of a well to do man by the name of John Weightman who has become a self made man of impressive wealth. He also believes that you should give for all to see, to obtain earthly results, and in his mind a place in Heaven. He says, “You have to be careful how you give, in order to secure the best results—no indiscriminate giving—no pennies in beggars’ hats!… Try to put your gifts where they can be identified and do good all around.”

He slips off in what seems like a dream or vision late Christmas Eve, and finds himself as if he had died and was walking with others, each given a mansion according to their works on earth. John Weightman is expecting the largest of all mansions for him, but the “Keeper of the Gate” brings him to a small rundown hut in the middle of a dirt lot, hardly big enough for a shelter. John is shocked and tells the “Keeper of the Gate” that there must be some mistake. This couldn’t be possible from all the charities he created, churches he built, hospitals he started, and schools constructed (all bearing his name of course).

The “Keeper of the Gate” then responded, “There is no mistake…We have used all the material that you sent us…The things you did on earth, were marked and used as foundation for the name and mansion of John Weightman in the world…Were not all these carefully recorded on earth where they would add to your credit…Verily, you have your reward for them… Would you be paid twice?”

John then asks, â€œThey accomplished some good in the world. Does not that count for something?”

“Yes”, answered the Keeper of the Gate, â€œit counts in the world—where you counted it. But it does not belong to you here.”

“Tell me, then,” he cried, brokenly, â€œsince my life has been so little worth, how came I here at all?”

“Through the mercy of the King”, –the answer was like the soft tolling of a bell.

John then asks, â€œWhat could I have done better?”

The Keeper of the Gate answers, â€œOnly that good which is done for the love of doing it. Only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought. Only those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward. Only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself.”

That final quote is what I see in you missionaries as you so diligently invite others to Christ -  â€œOnly that good which is done for the love of doing it. Only those plans in which the welfare of others is the master thought”:

“Just after [training] we were out riding along and I felt we needed to stop and talk to somebody and so we did but she was in a hurry so we quickly set up a return appointment for the next day. She called us later the same day we found her and told us they were ready and that her whole family was there and that they wanted that prayer. We realized they were incredibly elect and we switched around our schedule and dropped by and blessed their family. They loved the prayer and they had been taught by the missionaries before in North Florida but had been unable to be baptized because of work. The husband had just recently lost his job for 2 months and finally found a new one where he didn’t have to work on Sundays and they were excited to prepare to be baptized. They as a family entered those precious waters on Sunday and it was such a testimony to me that God loves families.”

I see in you missionaries - â€œOnly those labors in which the sacrifice is greater than the reward”:

“As we were coming back from Mission Conference last week we saw him outside his house and decided to harvest bless him and his street. It turns out that he moved here… to find a new life here in Miami and wanted to find a church home. He told us that he was trying to figure out a church to go to when we knocked on his door. He told us that he’s done a lot of things that he isn’t proud of in his life and he wanted to be forgiven for his sins and start over. He hasn’t been to church since he was 6 years old! The day before Sunday he shot us a text telling us that he was at the mall buying a new shirt for church on Sunday! On Sunday he showed up to church 10 minutes early and we were so excited to have him there. He loved it! He said that during the service that he felt something that he didn’t know how to describe. Of course we told him that it was the spirit and invited him again to be baptized. He told us after the service that he would continue to come back every week and that he knew that this was God’s church and that he was going to be a part of it!”

I see in you missionaries – “Only those gifts in which the giver forgets himself”:

“A miracle I want to share with you is as we were walking, I saw this guy … he had kind of been in the area around us where we were teaching …  As we were finished we walked by him and as always oym’ed him. After we had the prayer with him he was crying. He said he noticed us and could tell we were church people. He wanted to walk over to talk to us, but didn’t know what to say. He explained that he has had a rough past and is now wanting to change and come to God for forgiveness. He came to church on Sunday. We taught him after church and had the greatest lesson on the Atonement and receiving forgiveness of our sins. He again was crying but this time our member was in tears with him. Our member put his arm around him and said. ‘I know God will forgive you.’  He said he is ready for baptism and is so excited. President I know this is the Lord’s work and miracles will never cease. God knows his children, those who need and is ready for his gospel most.”

These are the great Sister Training Leaders and the assistants. Front row Sisters Dunford and Daines bookend elders Williams and Free. In the back we have sisters Aloi, Bean, Sablan, Dougal, Johnson, and Clayton. I hope I got all of those correct – we have been away from the mission for 8 months and the memory is not what it use to be.

Here are the amazing experiences that the president shared in his current letter. I was especially touched by the one where the lady called the missionaries who helped her and mentioned the card they gave with their phone number was in Spanish so it did not help her…showing love does not need words only actions…

“I know God is blessing us as you Share yourself and his blessing as a Representative of our Savior:

“Yesterday as we walked into church, the Branch President handed us a note that was posted on the door from somebody. And here is what the note said. ‘A couple of your followers came to my house and recited a prayer for me. I asked for a little financial assistance from the Lord. This past week I’ve received extra hours at work. I just wanted to thank them for their words. Also to let everyone know that I believe it was their kind prayer and belief in God that gave me the help I needed.’ And I still have that note. And will always keep it. It is just an amazing assurance that God is there. He answers prayers when we pray in faith.”

God truly blesses those we share His love and Gospel with:

“We harvested and as we were harvesting we met this man. He let us in and after the prayer he told us that he had been talking about how he needed to feel closer to God and needed a prayer. That is when we knocked on his door. He accepted baptism and committed to church! God puts people in our paths! Then later that day we were going to follow up with a lady who we had blessed and she said ‘before you start I got to tell you guys. After you left last time I got a phone call with the best news that I have heard in years and I knew it was because of your prayer.’ God truly did answer our prayer on her behalf. He always does! It was amazing to see her so excited about how he had answered the prayer.”

God will trust us to find and bless others in need as we act and do:

“We decided that we would be creators of circumstance for 30 extra minutes we had. We went straight to the map and chose a street to harvest. Speedily, we got into the car and drove to that spot and knocked. A man let us in and asked us to pray for health and work. We said a sincere prayer and boldly testified that Christ had sent us to Him. Thomas accepted baptism right away. The following day he had already asked his boss for the next Sunday off; his boss (who He said never changes the work schedule) gave him Sundays off! His daughter, who has been looking for work, got 2 calls for interviews the day after we prayed for his family. Both Him and Her came to church 20 minutes early on Sunday and exclaimed that they have found the truth. What a miracle, WHAT A LIFE CHANGING MIRACLE! The Lord knows who he wants in His church, and if we had decided to just sit and wait that 30 minutes we probably would have missed out on that miracle.”

God will bless those that we serve:

“The other day we were out harvesting. We passed this woman taking some stuff to the trash. We turned and offered to help. She seemed really startled and said she was fine. We left her with our card and continued on. Thirty minutes later she called us and said, ‘You know, there have been 2 people in my life who have ever offered to help me; some 10 year old kid and you. God must be telling me something by putting you in my path. This card is in Spanish which doesn’t really help me. . . Can you come over and expain a little more?’ We have been teaching hr all week! She came to church and is preparing to be baptized this Sunday!”

President Monson teaches us the importance of “giving, not getting”:

“Our celebration of Christmas should be a reflection of the love and selflessness taught by the Savior. Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. We feel more kindly one to another. We reach out in love to help those less fortunate. Our hearts are softened. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ.” (President Thomas S. Monson, December 2013 Christmas Devotional)

A wise friend years ago told me â€œYou give, and give, and give, and give until you have it all; until you are rich,”. I know “rich” in this case is being rich with the blessings of God as we give ourselves unselfishly in this great work we’ve have been called to.

It’s our prayer this Christmas season that we may take the example of the Savior Jesus Christ, and put others first as he told his Disciples in Mathew 25. Give of ourselves to others, until “we are rich”, and then we can become “the richest” person “in town “.

 

Found these pictures by Lester Montoya on the FFL Temple construction site. It looks like they are getting close to being finished. We are just sad that we will not be around for the open house and dedication. However it seems the Lord has other plans for us.